the "wall street journal" poll, mitt romney trails in florida and is down six in ohio. a quinnipiac poll shows him up three points in three other states. cnn's paul steinhauser is at the site in danville, kentucky with an inside look. >> reporter: 14 hours from now behind me on this stage, the only vice presidential debate in the campaign. they've been behind closed doors getting ready for this big showdown. the republican running mate got here to kentucky yesterday. before he arrived, he played a little bit of the expectations game, kind of lowering the bar for himself. >> joe biden has been on this stage many times before. it's my first time. sure it's a nervous situation because joe biden is one of the most experienced debaters we have in modern politics. >> as for vice president joe biden, he gets here later today. how is it going to work? to tell us. frank farencoff. >> it will be similar to the start of the colorado debate except that these two will be seated at a table. the vice president will be on the left. the congressman will be on the right. by flip of a coi